Newt Gingrich with Herman Cain in Suwanee GA Feb. 18, 2012
Marietta, GA -- At a rally in Cobb County, Newt Gingrich spent nearly five minutes introducing faces from his heyday in Georgia politics. It was a familiar theme during a weekend return to the state that started his career.
"He convinced me to run for the legislature. And I did, and got elected in 1980," said Neal Shepard of Fayette County. "Newt was a tremendous mentor for a lot of people."
Gingrich was in Georgia searching for votes again -- this time as a GOP presidential hopeful. He was elected to Congress from Georgia in 1978, and subsequently elected ten more times.
At a spirited precinct meeting of Gwinnett County Republicans, a straw poll showed that presidential politics in Georgia doesn't necessarily follow the conventional wisdom.
"All right. "Number one: Ron Paul, 115," called GOP chairman Bruce Levell, at the meeting at Collins Hill High School.
Gingrich finished second. Mitt Romney finished last.
"We've had so many frontrunners since Herman Cain. It's been up and down for all of them so I say, 'stay tuned,'" Levell said.
Though Gingrich was the only candidate on the ground in Georgia Saturday, the day represented a comeback of sorts for Herman Cain, the Stockbridge talk radio host forced to bow out in December. Cain says he is now a Gingrich advisor.
On Friday night, Gingrich worked an airport hangar in Fayette County. Following the precinct meeting in Gwinnett, he told a packed high school auditorium that he can win the nomination by winning Texas and California.
"We have a shot at the two biggest states in the country, but it all hinges on Georgia," Gingrich told the crowd.
Gingrich calls a victory in Georgia on March 6th crucial.
"It's my home state. It's important that we do very, very well here," Gingrich told reporters. "And that gives us a springboard across the whole country. And I think that's part of what we're counting on."